Laurence Watts Harvison was born in Newark,
Arkansas, on November 15, 1893, to William Hiram and Emma Watts Harvison. Hiram
later became terminally ill with tuberculosis and the family moved to Sulpher
Rock, Arkansas. Laurence was four years old when his father died. His mother
moved the family close to her sisters at Junction City, Arkansas. There, Emma
met and married Samuel Lee Muse, who owned and operated a general store.
Laurence Harvison attended school in Junction
City and in 1908, entered Arkansas College (now Lyon College) in Batesville,
Arkansas. He graduated in 1912. The next year he taught in Clarendon, Arkansas,
and then entered Austin Theological Seminary in Austin, Texas. By 1916, he
received his Bachelor of Divinity and enrolled in McCormick Theological
Seminary in Chicago, Illinois. In 1917, Harvison was ordained as a minister of
the Presbyterian Church. He served as minister at the Mount Pleasant Church in
Kingston, Ohio. When the United States entered World War I, Harvison joined the
United States Army and the Chaplain Corps. He was discharged on February 20,
1919.
After the war, Harvison served as the minister
at Murdoch and Pleasant Plain churches in Ohio. He married Lydia Barr Crouse in
Kingston, Ohio, on May 7, 1920. In 1922, he pastored the Sixth Presbyterian
Church in Cincinnati. Harvison received a Master of Arts in Philosophy from the
University of Cincinnati in 1925. A daughter, Nancy, was born the same year. In
1930, Harvison became minister of the First Federated Church of Cincinnati, a
merger of the Sixth Presbyterian Church and the McKendree Methodist Church. His
last church was the Federated Church of Harvey, Illinois, in 1941. He died in
Chicago on February 2, 1949.
This collection contains correspondence, both
personal and professional, writings, photographs, and memorabilia of Laurence
Harvison.
·
Personal
o 1. Undated: Harvison-Watts family history (Box
1)
o 2. Undated: Midwest Who's Who Biography,
Laurence Watts Harvison
o 3. 1933: Diary, trip to New York, New York
o Correspondence
§ 4. 1908
§ 5. 1909
§ 6. 1910
§ 7. 1911
§ 8. 1912 January-June
§ 9. 1912 July-August
§ 10. 1912 September 5-22
§ 11. 1912 September 22-30
§ 12. 1912 October
§ 13. 1912 November 2-18
§ 14. 1912 November 18-30
§ 15. 1912 December and undated
§ 16. 1913 January
§ 17. 1913 February
§ 18. 1913 March
§ 19. 1913 April-May
§ 20. 1913 June-August
§ 21. 1913 September-November
§ 22. 1914 January-February (Box 2)
§ 23. 1914 March-May
§ 24. 1914 June
§ 25. 1914 July
§ 26. 1914 August 3-11
§ 27. 1914 August 16-25
§ 28. 1914 October
§ 29. 1914 November
§ 30. 1914 December
§ 31. 1914 undated
§ 32. 1915 January
§ 33. 1915 February
§ 34. 1915 March
§ 35. 1915 April
§ 36. 1915 May-September
§ 37. 1915 October 2-10
§ 38. 1915 October 13-25
§ 39. 1915 November
§ 40. 1915 December
§ 41. 1916 January (Box 3)
§ 42. 1916 February
§ 43. 1916 March
§ 44. 1916 April-May
§ 45. 1916 June
§ 46. 1916 July-August
§ 47. 1916 September-October
§ 48. 1916 November-December
§ 49. 1917 January-February
§ 50. 1917 March-April
§ 51. 1917 June-July
§ 52. 1917 August-September
§ 53. 1917 October-December
§ 54. 1918
§ 55. 1919
§ 56. 1922
§ 57. 1925-1926
§ 58. 1933 October 6 and 1935 September 24:
Letters to and from Franklin D. Roosevelt
§ 59. 1943-1945
§ 60. 1949: To Mrs. Harvison on the death of
Laurence W. Harvison
§ 61. Undated
o Other
§ 62. 1899-1949: Photographs (photocopies)
§ 63. 1908-1912: Arkansas College, Batesville,
Arkansas
§ 64. 1914: "The Historical Christmas and
the Biblical Christmas" by L.W. Harvison
§ 65. 1918: World War I
§ 66. 1920: Marriage certficate
§ 67. 1925: Masters thesis, "The Dualistic
Structure of Experience" draft copy
§ 68. 1949: Obituary
o Diplomas
§ 69. 1904 December 16: In recognition of
faithful study of the Shorter Catechism (Box 4)
§ 70. 1912 June 5: Arkansas College
§ 71. 1916 May 11: Austin Presbyterian
Theological Seminary, Bachelor of Divinity
§ 72. 1925 June 13: University of Cincinnati,
Master of Arts
·
Professional
o Correspondence
§ 73. 1914 (Box 5)
§ 74. 1915
§ 75. 1936
§ 76. 1947
o Contracts and licenses
§ 77. 1912: Teacher's license, Union and Monroe
counties
§ 78. 1912: Teachers contract, Monroe County,
Arkansas
§ 79. 1917: Certificate of Licensure, Minister's
License
§ 80. 1920: February 29, Call for pastor, Bethel
Presbyterian Church
§ 81. 1922 June 18: Call for pastor, Sixth
Presbyterian Church
o First Federated Church
§ 82. 1930-1965: Notes from the first meeting to
newsclippings on the closure
§ 83. 1934-1935: Correspondence
§ 84. 1936-1938: Correspondence
§ 85. 1939: Correspondence
§ 86. 1940: Correspondence and sermon
o Other
§ 87. 1934: John Dewey's "A Common
Faith," includes writing of L.W. Harvison
§ 88. 1938: Writings, L.W. Harvison
§ 89. 1940: Writings, L.W. Harvison
§ 90. 1940: University of Cincinnati, Ohio,
Teachers College bulletin
§ 91. 1941-1946: Federated Church, Harvey,
Illinois
§ 92. 1942-1949: Sermons
§ 93. 1948: "Sesquicentennial History of
the Mt. Pleasant Presbyterian Church"
§ 94. Undated: Writings, L.W. Harvison
·
Photographs
o 95. Photograph copies
o 96. Photographs 0001-0007
§ PH.LWH.0001 Laurence Watts Harvison, Margaret
Ray Harvison, Arline Ramsay, Edwin Ramsay, John Watts Harris in front row.
Junction City, Arkansas, c. 1899.
§ PH.LWH.0002 Margaret Ray Harvison pushing John
Watts Harris, Junction City, Arkansas, c. 1899.
§ PH.LWH.0003 Arline Ramsay, Margaret Ray
Harvison, Edwin Ramsay, holding John Watts Harris. Laurence Watts Harvison in
back row. Junction City, Arkansas, c. 1899.
§ PH.LWH.0004 One of a number of photographs
taken by Mr. Kilmer, a member of the Harvey Federated Church in January of
1949. These were the last pictures taken of Laurence Watts Harvison before he
died on February 2, 1949.
§ PH.LWH.0005 Federated Church, Harvey,
Illinois, 1946.
§ PH. LWH.0006 Laurence Watts Harvison, the Ford
coupe, the Presbyterian Church, Murdock, Ohio, c. 1920.
§ PH.LWH.0007 The Manse and the Church at
Murdock, Ohio, c. 1920.
o 97. Photographs 0008-0015
§ PH.LWH.0008 Junction City, Arkansas, c. 1949.
Back row: Stella Harris, Marie Watts, Emma Watts, Harvison Muse, Vera Hammett
Ramsey, Edwin Ramsey, Winslow Watts. Front row: Stella Caroline Edwards
§ PH.LWH.0009 Marie Watts, first cousin of
Laurence Watts Harvison, c. 1912.
§ PH.LWH.0010 Unidentified group, possibly Young
Men's Christian Association at Arkansas College. Laurence Watts Harvison is in
the second row, second from the left. circa 1911 or 1912.
§ PH.LWH.0011 Three pictures of Laurence Watts
Harvison during the Arkansas College years.
§ PH.LWH.0012 Laurence W. Harvison
§ PH.LWH.0013 A pastel drawing of Emma Watts
Harvison Muse, done in 1940 by Caroline Estelle Harris.
§ PH.LWH.0014 Austin Theological Seminary.
Laurence Watts Harvison, first row, seated, third from right. Edward Paisley,
Laurence Watts Harvison's lifetime friend, back row, standing, third from left.
§ PH.LWH.0015 Photograph of Laurence Watts
Harvison, November 1914 (twenty-first birthday picture).
o 98. Photographs 0016-0018
§ PH.LWH.0016 Reverend Laurence Harvison, taken
for his twenty-first birthday, November 15, 1914.
§ PH.LWH.0017 John Watts Harris looking at the
band and audience on the porch of the Interstate Hotel, Junction City,
Arkansas, c. 1905.
§ PH.LWH.0018 Two images on one print: Laurence
Watts Harvison, holding his nephew, Alexander Smith, Junction City, Arkansas,
c. March 1919. Laurence Watts Harvison, holding his nephew, Alexander Smith,
Emma Watts Harvison Muse, Margaret Ray Harvison Smith, Junction City, Arkansas,
c. March 1919
o 99. Photographs 0019-0027
§ PH.LWH.0019 Clarendon (Ark.) Public School,
L.W. Harvison, third from right. 1913
§ PH.LWH.0020 Senior class of the Austin
Theological Seminary.
§ PH.LWH.0021 "We are seven," Senior
class A.C. 1912, L.W. Harvison, Hazel Alexander, Thos Smyley, Christine Murphy,
Ray Hinkle, E. Sloan, and P. Ward.
§ PH.LWH.0022 Erosophic Literary Society,
1908-09.
§ PH.LWH.0023 Young Men's Christian Association,
Arkansas College, 1909.
§ PH.LWH.0024 Index Staff, A.C. 1912.
§ PH.LWH.0025 Index Staff, 1910-1911.
§ PH.LWH.0026 Erosophic Literary Society,
1910-11.
§ PH.LWH.0027 Erosophic Literary Society, A.C.,
1912.
